2.19 S.O.S.

Bernard and Rose are stacking Dharma Initiative food products on shelves at the beach while Bernard complains about how on this side of the island, people have given up on being rescued.

Locke is so obsessed with working out the glyphs that he saw during lockdown that he has to be gently reminded by Jack that the timer is down to about a minute and the numbers need to be entered. Locke enters the numbers and returns to his scrawls.

Jack and Ana discuss the prisoner. He has not eaten, drank, or spoken in two days. Jack expresses impatience, enters the armory, and tries to engage ‘Henry’ in conversation. He changes Henry’s dressing and tells of his plan to co-opt Henry’s plan earlier – to trade Henry for Walt. Henry says the Others will never give Walt to him.

In flashback, Rose is stuck in snow. Bernard offers to help and pushes her out. This is their first meeting. There is a connection, and she invites him out for coffee.

Bernard is excited about something and is organizing everyone he can to meet him at the tree line for some reason.

Jack is heading out to meet with the Others. Ana offers to go but Jack glances at Locke and says she must stay. Ana warns him not to go alone.

Jack finds Kate fishing and Sawyer watching and goading her. Jack invites Kate, not Sawyer, to accompany him.

Bernard wants to build a huge sign so that the plane that dropped the supplies knows they are there. Rose wants to run it by Jack; she doesn’t want to give people false hope, but Bernard goes ahead and organizes it anyway.

In flashback, Bernard proposes to Rose at Niagara Falls. Rose tells him she only has a year to live. She says yes.

Bernard asks Eko and Charlie to help build the sign, but they are too busy building a church.

Locke tells Ana he must talk to Henry. Ana says the gun is gone, so the door stays closed. Through the door, Locke asks Henry if he entered the numbers, and gets agitated when Henry does not respond. Inside the armory, Henry’s lips curl into a satisfied, sadistic smile.

Bernard tells the small group of sign-builders that they should start hauling black rocks from a lava field ½ mile away, while he sketches out the letters in the sand. No one is very happy about his plan.

In flashback, Bernard and Rose are driving in a four wheel drive somewhere near Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia. Rose thinks they are lost, but Bernard knows exactly where they are. He has taken her to visit a recommended healer, Isaac of Uluru. Rose is upset; she says she has already made her peace with what is happening to her. But Bernard asks her to try for his sake.

Bernard asks Sawyer to help with the sign, but Sawyer passes. Bernard tells Rose that her attack on him is the reason that interest in building the sign has dwindled. Rose tells him to just let thing be, but he replies that if he didn’t always have to do something, she would not be here.

Jack and Kate are deep in the jungle. Kate tells Jack she is flattered he invited her. Jack says he took her because Sayid turned him down first, and because the Others didn’t want him or her. Kate sees a doll on the ground. Jack tries to stop her from picking it up, but she does, and they are both caught in a net trap. They believe the trap was set by Danielle, not by the Others. Kate uses their one bullet to try to shoot the rope, but she misses. Jack hits, and they fall to the ground.

When Bernard harasses Jin about how he is building the letters, Jin quits. He is sympathetic to, but isn’t swayed by Bernard’s plea that he just wants to get his wife home.

On the beach, Rose tells Locke that he is in her spot. They discuss Bernard’s sign and the fact that Locke is done with the hatch. Locke says it is going to take four weeks for his leg to heal, according to Jack, but Rose says they know it won’t take that long – and they trade a knowing look.

In flashback, Rose meets with Isaac. He says he harnesses the local energy and gives it to others. He touches her; a shocked look comes over her face, and says he cannot help her. He says this is not the right place for her, but that there is a right place.

It is raining heavily, drenching Kate and Jack. Kate tells Jack about the lockers with the Others clothes and fake beard. They reach the clearing where they met with the bearded man. Jack yells a greeting and says he has their man.

Bernard is now building the sign by himself. Rose brings him some supper; Bernard just asks her to set it down. Rose apologizes for lieing to him about being fixed by Isaac. She tells him that after the crash, she could feel that the cancer has gone away – that the island cured her.

In flashback, Rose meets Locke at the airport and sees that he is in a wheelchair.

Bernard realizes she never wants to leave the island, for fear it will come back. Bernard promises that they will never leave the island. He abandons the sign with just the tail of the ‘S’ completed.

Locke is playing some vinyl. Ana tells Locke that she pressed his button, but he says it is not his button. He returns to deciphering his symbols. The music plays as we see Charlie putting the center beam up for the church, Jin lovingly caressing Sun’s belly, Claire talking to Aaron, Hurley making Libby laugh by the fire, and Locke giving some food and a pat to Vincent. Bernard and Rose sit in embrace by another fire.

Kate and Jack sit at a fire at a meeting spot, waiting. Kate says she is sorry she kissed him. Jack says he is not sorry. They are interrupted by movement through the trees and a torch. A man runs and collapses at their feet – it is Michael.

Comments

I finally have a ‘big picture’ theory. This whole thing – the island, the bunker, the Others, the plane crash - is all part of an elaborate and cruel human sociological experiment orchestrated by the mysterious ‘he’ who is in charge of the Others. And there are times, such as when Locke gets Jack to press the button for the first time, when it almost seems like Locke knows about it all. Surely the creators have to be fooling us in some way, or withholding information from us. Perhaps it will be revealed that Locke works for Dharma. After all, he certainly has a lot of skills that aren’t learned at a box company.

Another thought: since 4-8-15-16-23-42 add up to 108 (the minutes that count down), perhaps someone will figure that out and then realize that if they enter numbers such as 1000 six times, the counter will reset to that instead. It could be a very simple computer program they are dealing with here.

Although Rose doesn’t come out and say so, she seems to indicate to Locke that the island healed her cancer.

In the last episode, I felt a tiny bit of shark-jumping going on when I guess that the photo of Hurley and Dave was going to be used as the reveal to show that Dave was all in Hurley’s mind. In this episode, I felt that Bernard’s "must-do-something" character trait was a wee bit contrived to drive the plot. So are things going a little downhill for Lost? I’m not sure yet.

Memorable Moments

• Kate and Jack caught in a net

Quotable Quotes

Bernard: Rose, will you marry me?
Rose: Bernard, I’m dieing. I’m sick, and I’m dieing.

"Trouble down at the sand factory, Norma Rae?"
- Sawyer to Bernard

"Sorry."
- Kate’s one-word apology for springing the trap

Rose: That man doesn’t know the difference between an errand and a fool’s errand.
Locke: Well, Rose, most of us don’t.

Locke: I’m done with the hatch.
Rose: Oh, now, you’re just frustrated. You’ll be out of that splint and running around the island again in no time.
Locke: And yet, Jack said it’d be at least four weeks.
Rose: But, honey, you and I both know it’s not gonna take that long.

Ana: Hey. I pressed your button.
Locke: It’s not my button.